2009 Survey of Inmates in Prisons and Local Jails

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The purpose of this award is to provide funding for a collection agent to design and field test asurvey for administration to inmates in a national sample of prison and jail facilities, hereafterknown as the Survey of Inmates in Prisons and Local Jails (SIPLJ), and to prepare a nationalimplementation plan to field the SIPLJ in 2012.The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, has periodically collected information through personal interviews with inmates in jails and prisons since the 1970s (see Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities and Survey of Inmates in Local Jails at: (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm#Programs). BJS seeks to create a single instrument that is adaptable to inmates housed in prison and jail settings and administered using an Audio Computer-Assisted Self Interview (ACASI) mode. It is anticipated that ACASI will enhance the precision of its estimates; increase sample size where feasible through group administration; minimize collection costs; and minimize the disruption to prison and jail facilities during the survey. The instrument will be modular based with separate substantive domains delivered to inmates in a manner to maximize the content covered by the surveys while minimizing the costs of administration. The recipient will also design and test an alternative mode of administration for use in facilities where ACASI is not feasible.BJS will announce a separate solicitation for national implementation of SIPLJ upon completionof the activities listed here.BJS is authorized to issue this solicitation under 42 U.S.C. § 3732(c).

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